Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has been appearing in meetings with a face mask only around the neck — and sometimes without it.
Keeping a face mask under their noses or on the chin and neck has become a common practice among most of the bureaucrats. TRS party ministers, workers and including higher officials seem to be following suit.
Health experts pointed out that wearing a mask on the chin or under the nose is not only pointless, but it also increases the person’s chance of contracting an infection.
On the other hand, the Telangana government decided to impose a fine of Rs. 1,000 on people roaming in public places without wearing a mask as the state battles to contain new COVID-19 cases. Plus, several citizens were also punished by the cops for not wearing a face mask.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin said, “The mask is not for the chin, neck or head it has to be wore in way to cover the mouth and nose completely as asked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Citizens were asked to wear a three-layer face mask and maintain social distancing in public places. However, when the ministers meet the Chief Minister in his cabin they do not follow the norms of social distancing.”
The good news is that people of Telangana are not following in KCR’s footsteps. Based on the findings by that wearing a face mask protects a person from various germs and infection as per the WHO. People of Telangana feel that 62% to 70% folks deciding to wear a face mask is more a matter of public health than a matter of personal choice.
Mask-wearing is overwhelmingly popular and not nearly as partisan as one would imagine. A person of KCR’s stature does not exactly set a good precedent for the state’s citizens.
In Telangana, Health Minister Eatala Rajender announced that the state reported 209 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday taking the overall tally to 4,320.
Recently, The Print founder Shekhar Gupta also criticized the Telangana model by describing as a “See no virus, catch no virus, test no virus, and count no dead. Then if a virus catches somebody and sorts out him/her, then say ‘Ram Nam Satya Hai’ in silence and go away.”
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